Knock First
by Nidoran Duran
Summary: Gold's bad habit of not knocking before walking into a room takes a turn for the worst when he walks in on Red and Green being private. Or, is it a turn for the better? Roommate quasi-AU, set years after the games.


Gold had a problem with knocking. None of his housemates were entirely sure where it came from, but he just never did it. For that reason alone, he got the bedroom too small to fit two people all to himself; nobody wanted him barging in with no regard for privacy. He still did it, any time he wanted to borrow something or talk, or even felt like playing a video game and wanted to see if anyone wanted to play with him. By divine interference, he'd never barged in on anything private. Just an irritant to his six housemates, who warned him one day he would come in at a bad time.

Their warnings finally came true when he rushed home one afternoon carrying the new badge case he got. It was a fancy and expensive one, bearing a master ball design on the front and even containing a place for the badge from the league itself, certifying him as a champion. Along with it, he had his badges all shined professionally, and they glimmered in the light obnoxiously. Only Red and Green were likely to be home, but that didn't matter because the two trainers he aspired to be as good as were the only two he wanted to show it off to.

Instead, he opened the door to find them both on the large bed they shared, pressed against the headboard. Green had Red's pants around his knees, his hand on his boyfriend's shaft, and his lips against his collarbone. Red's eyes looked forward, growing wide as he saw Gold open the door and stand there, mouth agape, staring at the couple. One of his hands had taken to clutching at a fistful of Green's shirt, and when it released the brunette stopped his motions to turn and see what Red was indicated. He was used to his stoic rival-turned-boyfriend communicating nonverbally, and knew exactly what he was signifying.

His jaw dropped as he saw Gold standing in the doorway, eyes wide open in shock. "I told you," he groaned, grabbing a pillow by the bedside and placing it onto Red's crotch as he pulled away reluctantly. He stood up and walked toward Gold looking rather furious, his own pants discarded and erection prominent in his boxers. "We all told you that you'd end up walking in on something one day, and you'd probably get punched in the face for doing it." Stopping just short of Gold, he titled his head and sneered, "So why are you interrupting me getting some?"

Gold shook a little. It didn't matter how good of a Pokemon trainer he was, if it came down to a fight, he'd lose to Green in an instant, and he knew from previous incidents that Green didn't take kindly to getting cockblocked. Averting his gaze like prey conceding dominance to a stronger animal, Gold shakily replied, "I wanted to show you guys my new badge case."

Green looked at him incredulously for a minute, then started to laugh. He looked over to Red for his opinion, and shook his head in amazement. "You think we should?" he asked with a smile, reaching with one hand for the younger trainer's shoulder and squeezing it uncomfortably hard. Red didn't respond, but the devilish gleam in his eyes told him all he needed to know. Everyone assumed Gold was the real troublemaker of the two, but that was just because nobody believed someone as quiet as Red could be so wicked.

"You're in luck," Green said, pulling Gold into the room and closing the door behind them. Gold let go of his badge case in surprise and worry, not sure exactly what was going to happen, but worrying the fact nobody else was home meant there'd be no one to save him. "Because I'm not Brendan. If you walked in on him with May he'd probably punch you in the face."

"So you aren't going to hurt me?" he asked, voice still shaking as Green led him toward the bed and toward the enigmatic champion still sitting there with a fluffy pillow across his groin in a display of modesty. It was a little intimidating; there was always the slightest bit of a crush beneath his respect, and locking eyes with a Red who'd been in the middle of sex seemed just as intimidating as if they'd met in battle. Not just Red, but Green behind him. His two biggest idols leading his confused ass to the bed.

"That depends on how you feel about certain things," Green whispered into his ear in a cruel tone that made Gold whimper in concerns not at all eased by the promise. After giving Gold's ear the tiniest of nips he eased the trainer onto the bed where he'd been. "Why don't you try and do what I was doing earlier while I go make some accomodations?"

'Accomodations' made Gold uneasy, but before he could even string together a thought about it he realized that he was up close with Red and that the pillow had been pulled away at some point, exposing his idol's rigid cock to his sight. Before he could fully process that thought too, Red's hand was in his hair and pulling him forward into a kiss. He couldn't do anything except, driven by instinct, awkwardly reciprocate and try to keep his cool. He did a fairly bad job at both, but from his perspective he was doing pretty great. He knew how to kiss decently enough, but nerves and excitement, paired with lingering terror, stripped away much of that knowledge.

So wrapped up in everything he was doing, it wasn't until Red's free hand seized his wrist and pulled his hand into his lap did Gold even remember the handjob. Clumsily he wrapped his hand around his idol's dick and started to stroke with finesse. It didn't bother Red too much because Green often delivered the same kind of brute intensity, and so he could get used to it, especially if he closed his eyes and tried to improve the kiss as much as he could.

Green had the bottom drawer of his and Red's combined dresser-it was a very lavish and massive one-open, because beneath a thin layer of old, too-small clothes lay their trove of sex toys. He'd taken out a couple and laid them on the surface. He held one of their vibrators, a condom rolled over it for safety reasons, and lubed it up nicely, not sure exactly how receptive Gold was going to be to it. He knew Gold had done some things with Silver the last time the redhead came around, but he didn't know if Gold still had his anal cherry.

A quick look back to the bed, to see Red squeezing Gold's jacket as he was wont to do as their plucky admirer frantically jerked off his boyfriend, made Green deeply jealous. He snarled and squeezed a lot more lube onto the vibrator, intent on making sure they weren't simply playing with Gold. He wanted to full-on toy with the kid as revenge.

Starting to really get into it, Red had peeled Gold's jacket off and started at his zipper of his shorts, his other hand holding Gold's head and threading his fingers through his hair. As he grew more comfortable with the situation, Gold's nerves eased and he was more eagerly kissing and stroking Red. This all hadn't turned out nearly as bad as he expected. In fact, it was pretty great, a definite argument for bursting into as many rooms as possible. Maybe even May and Brendan's, since if Green of all people was willing to let him mess around with his lover, maybe Brendan would let him fuck May after all.

Just as he was really getting into it, Green came up from behind, pressing his lips into Gold's neck and purring in a way that made the younger trainer melt between his heroes. He was already long-since hard, but his dick throbbed at the sound Green made. As the brunette seized his wrists and pulled them behind his back, Gold groaned out in bliss into Red's lips. The sound turned into a surprised shout halfway through as the feeling of cold metal followed the strong, warm grasp of Viridian's gym leader.

Gold struggled a little, only to find his hands wouldn't move very much. Even in the midst of excitement he could tell what happened, and whimpered a little as Green laughed into his ear mockingly. "What are you doing?" he asked, tearing away from Red's lips as the black-haired trainer started to tug his shorts down with Green's help.

"Having sex with you," Green replied sarcastically, pushing Gold back against Red and giving the final tug to get the shorts off the boy. "It's just going to be on our terms, not yours." He tugged Gold's boxers down, keeping them pooled around his ankles as he teased the slicked-up tip of the toy to Gold's ass.

Gold wasn't sure if he wanted to object or not as the cold intruder pressed against his back door. Especially when Red's fingers ran along his cock's sensitive underside teasingly, making him shudder even more and whimper into his housemate's shoulder. Green pushed it into him slowly, and all the while Red played softly with his penis, treating it with a certain finesse neither he nor his almost kind-of boyfriend Silver ever did. Both feelings were alien to him, especially when, after getting in an inch, Green flicked the switch to the highest setting without warning, making it buzz and vibrate in his ass.

"Shit!" he shouted into Red's shoulder, struggling against his handcuffs as Green squeezed his ass playfully and sank more in. He didn't know it was a vibrator, or that vibrators could be so strong, and he wasn't the sort to keep his reaction subtle.

"I guess Silver fucked you after all," Green sneered, easing the vibrator further in, enjoying how Gold squirmed. He and Red's silent agreement that a little cruel payback was in order had already led to wonderful things; Gold was so satisfying a person to mess with. His reactions were never understated and if anything was the slightest bit wrong he'd bring it up. To have him pay for his invasion of privacy in a way that would end with them both deriving pleasure from Gold was even sweeter.

Gold didn't answer, still just shouting obscenities and non-words as Red's skilled hands worked his cock. He felt damn good between the two experienced older teens, but didn't have the slightest fucking clue what to think about the experience. It was very different than being with Silver, and not simply because there were two of them. The way they touched him, though both very disparate, carried a certain experience that sent him far past what Silver's very straightforward approach ever did.

"This would be a terrible first time," Red said. "It's good you have experience already." He grasped Gold's shaft properly and made slow strokes. Even though there was no longer a hand helping him along, the feeling of Gold tensing up and whimpering against him kept him very aroused and pleased. Of course, had Green not had obvious plans brewing in his mind and reflecting in his eyes, he'd probably haul Gold into his lap and masturbate with the boy in unison.

"Yeah, it means you'll be able to suck my dick without being a disappointment," Green said, mostly kidding. He really did want Gold to enjoy himself in their fun little revenge, and not deflowering him certainly helped him along. On the other hand, if he didn't get a decent blowjob out of it this was a glorified charity event and he would have been better off just fucking Red as originally planned. It was too late for that, so instead he decided to give Gold everything he'd give to Red.

The Johto native winced in pain as Green's teeth sank into his lower neck, eliciting a bizarre blend of bliss and pain that only added to all the confusion that made his thoughts slow down. He was starting to act before he could think, and when he was lucid he realized that he was biting Red's collarbone too in retaliation, but the black-haired boy was very appreciative of that fact. Gold never knew biting could be erotic like this.

His idols were teaching him about sex. If he could express anything beyond arousal he'd be giddy.

Once the vibrator was all the way in Gold, save for the string at the end to pull it out with, Green and Red pulled away from the handcuffed teen and moved him over so that he was flush against the large headboard, sitting bottomless on their bed. Green and Red were similarly undressed, the brunette shedding his boxers at last as they took their places in front of him, sitting imposingly and looking down at his erection. It was impressively sized, but they had almost three years of puberty on the him and it showed.

"Please," Gold whimpered, trying to shut his eyes but unable to as he ogled his idols' cocks. "Touch me, guys. This vibrator is driving me nuts."

"I don't know," Green said teasingly. "Maybe Red and I will just jerk each other off as we watch you be all cute and squirm." He reached over and brushed his boyfriend's thigh softly, having a little trouble knowing exactly where the playing ended and that he was teasing an unintended target. "I want to see if you'll cum just from that toy."

Gold finally managed to shut his eyes tight, leaning his head back and groaning in frustration and pleasure. Every little wriggle seemed to make the toy's rapid shaking more pronounced against his inner walls, and that in turn made him wriggle more.

Watching him grow even more frantic made Green laugh even more. "Know what, kid? Fine, you win. Besides, your dick's a lot better than Red's was at your age."

The black-haired trainer glared at his boyfriend before leaning forward, sinking down and grasping Gold's cock again. He gave it a few experimental licks, noting the bead of pre that sat patiently at his tip until it was licked off. As with his handjob, Red was patient and steady, applying a certain finesse and awareness of every inch of Gold's flesh. Within thirty seconds the reclusive champion's lips were tight around Gold's shaft and his head bobbed gently along it.

Helping keep Gold still, Green pressed a hand to his chest, squeezing his shirt and his chest in a show of control as he pressed his lips hotly to the younger trainer's. It was a hungry, furious kiss, one that Gold gladly pressed into with earnest. The slightest undercurrent of possessiveness made Gold wonder if that was just how Green kissed, or if he'd taken a shine to him. He hoped desperately for the latter as Red sucked him off a little faster; it meant there was hope of more of this eventually.

Green broke the kiss a little, coming back into it with a bite more fire as he seized Gold's lip between his teeth and held it there hard. Gold's eyes shut tightly as light pain ached from there, letting out a whimper that grew louder as Green's fingers entangled themselves in his hair, again with a contrasting roughness that Red didn't exhibit.

It made for a bizarre juxtaposition, Red gently caressing his thigh as he stroked and licked his shaft with restraint and purpose, while Green pulled his head back, forcing Gold to expose his neck to Green's teeth. A long, slow series of licks against his frenulum accompanied a hard bite to his throat. The resulting sound Gold made was confused, several things mingled together in an indeterminable mess as pleasure and pain swirled together in new and bizarre ways.

"W-why do you like to bite so mu-much?" Gold asked through ragged breaths, pressing his chest out against Green. He definitely wasn't complaining about it, even if he strained against the boy's hand and against his handcuffs.

Green didn't reply, instead tapping Red on the shoulder. The motion was a familiar one, and they slowly shifted positions. It made Gold draw in a sharp breath, fearing Green would be just as bitey down there. Seemingly keen to that concern, Green wrapped his fingers tight around Gold's aching shaft and said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to bite your dick off." The words were reassuring, but they were said in a tone and with a smile that didn't quite convince Gold, who still worried.

Without another word, Green started pumping with the sort of impatient speed Gold had expected, and leaned in to start licking his head all over. He looked up at Gold with a wicked smile as his tongue lashed at the tip gracelessly. With his free hand, he reached down and squeezed Gold's ass a bunch. Where Red's approach was slow and patient, Green's was aggressive and sloppy, its lack of refinement redeemed only by the degree to which Green insisted on going as hard as he could and putting his hand to use elsewhere.

Keeping up the strange contrast, Red's hand ran up along Gold's chest, tugging his shirt up along the way, exposing the younger teen's chest for his lips. A flurry of kisses working their way up his midriff assuaged his whimpering a little, giving him something not to worry about. It was much appreciated, since he was handcuffed, had a vibrator in his ass, and had a very bite-happy boy sucking him off. Red was someone he didn't have to worry about too much in his eyes, not aware that it was his silent suggestion in the first place.

After licking the tip to his heart's content, Green took Gold's head into his mouth and started sucking, bobbing his head in short motions along it. He kept his eyes up, focusing on Gold's face and making sure he knew that he was toying with the younger teen. That tied up and with a toy up his ass, he wasn't getting some hot harem action, he was being used. When the realization hit Gold, his cock jerked in Green's mouth a little and he moaned loudly. Whether it was because of the revelation or the four other things happening to him at that moment, he couldn't tell.

Red moaned into his chest, grazing his teeth against Gold's nipple in a way that made him wary; was Red a biter too? That was just what he needed. Still, even when using his teeth he seemed gentle enough, and had reached down to cup and play with Gold's balls, so Red was at least acting with his best interests in mind and easing him closer to release.

"I can feel it," he moaned shakily, struggling again against his handcuffs as it was really all he knew to do at that point. "Please don't stop Green, I'm gonna cum."

Which, naturally, was the moment Green's hand and lips were off his cock. He felt Green still fondling his ass and Red was still kissing him-now on his neck-but the strokes and sucks stopped. Aided only by the periphery touch of the two older teens and the buzzing toy in his ass, Gold's hips jerked forward and he whimpered, cumming hard as the couples' toying came to fruition. He got some good distance on some of it, a fair amount even landing on Green's cock as he sat upright to watch. Most of it ended up streaking across the bed, trailing up to Gold as he slumped down, panting heavily. The toy still buzzed mockingly in his ass as Red finally pulled his lips off his skin.

"Thanks," he breathed, "That was really great, guys."

"Who said we were done?" Green mused, grabbing Gold by the arms and pulling his lazy, wearing body up off the bed. "Red and I still haven't gotten off yet, and now you owe us." He looked past Gold to Red, who also climbed up off the bed. "Which end do you want?"

"His ass," Red said matter-of-factly, looking down to admire Gold's, even with the string still dangling out of it.

Green nodded, pulling the younger, still handcuffed trainer toward the short bureau he and Red shared. It wasn't very tall, a little higher than a chair, most of its space being made up for by its wideness. It was an antique, and the large, ornate mirror at the top sat firmly on top of it. It was the couples' go-to surface for furniture to fuck on. "Good, because he got some cum on my dick, and I wanted to make him lick it off." He sneered, hopping up onto it and reaching back around Gold. Seizing the cord, he pulled the toy slowly out of the whimpering boy. He rolled off the condom and hit the 'off' switch.

Red came up behind Gold, seizing his hips and pressing his dick between his cheeks. The sudden presence of something warm made Gold shiver as Red made a few slow thrusts along it and Green fiddled in the box on the top of the dresser, finding a condom and handing it off to Red along with the lube he'd used earlier.

None of this was what Gold expected at all. He didn't think it was what 'joining them' meant, and he thought getting off would be it. Instead, Red was pulling his legs out and Green was pressing his head down, getting his fingers intentionally tangled up in his hair so that he had something to hold him by. "You guys," he whimpered, all attempts at sounding threatening failing him as his head inched closer to Green's erection. "Are you sure this is how you want to do this?"

"Just be quiet," Green groaned, pressing his dick to Gold's cheek and rocking his hips, humping against him like Red previously had. "You know you want to do this, so just man up and take your 'punishment'. I bet you'll even pick up a few things for Silver if you do." He snickered, giving his face a few more degrading rubs before pulling Gold's head back and roughly thrusting into Gold's mouth.

Gold shut his eyes tightly, but didn't struggle. Green was right; this was pretty much the best thing he could ask for. They were his celebrity crushes, even if they were also his friends, and he never imagined that he would be spitroasted by them. There he was though, with Green's cock in his mouth and Red slipping on a condom behind him, eyes probably on his ass as his hips swayed lazily, a symptom of how fidgety the handcuffs made him.

It seemed Green liked to suck cock the same way he liked his sucked. Using his tight hold on Gold's hair, he bobbed the boy's head up and down rapidly, easing a little more past his lips each time to test his limits, see how deep he could go. He was loud about it, as expected, moaning as he fucked his housemate's hot, wet mouth. "Just like that, keep sucking. Tighten your lips a little and put some pull into it... That's right, you're getting it." He didn't mind walking Gold through the steps, especially with how compliant the New Bark native was. It satisfied his need for control very well, to have someone tied up and eagerly seeking his wisdom.

With the condom on a copious amount of lube applied, Red was ready, and slipped his cock slowly into Gold's ass. Green reached around with his free hand, grabbing hard to one of Gold's cheeks and pulling it to the side to give Red a better view and easier entrance He didn't go as slow as he would have, noting how ready he already was from the vibrator. As expected, he took more of a slow approach to his thrusts, working his way in without much of a hurry. He didn't like to stay that way forever, but he knew Gold wasn't aware of that. In time he'd find out, but for the moment he placed one hand on Gold's back and the other on his ass cheek, squeezing and holding him steadily.

There were now two boys in Gold, his heroes, a couple with him in the middle. It was an insane moment he didn't believe was actually happening, but he could feel the thickness in his ass and the hard grasp on his hair, hear their contrasting but relatively synchronized moans, and knew it was no hallucination. As he went deeper he could taste his own cum on Green's shaft, and it surprised him in how much that turned him on, out of everything happening to him in each second.

Green looked down in shock at Gold, who had taken in more dick than he'd been given credit for. Green's tip was currently a short way down his throat but he still took it without challenge, which Green hadn't expected at all. Just how hung was Silver? Not that he wanted to dwell too much on the dicks of absent friends when he had two naked boys in front of him fucking. Even he knew to sometimes be happy with what he got, and what he got was pretty great. "You're doing well," he said, figuring he'd throw the kid a compliment as he started to rock his hips and fuck his face harder.

Slowly, Red's thrusts built up steam, working at so gradual a pace that Gold hardly even noticed the change. It wasn't the fastest he intended to go either, just that he liked to build toward such things instead of ramming his dick in and going as fast as he could, as Green did. He always mused at how completely different he and Green were about sex, and how they shouldn't have meshed at all. But somehow, Green was a perfect fit for him, every touch, stroke, and kiss feeling more right than anything to him. Because it was Green, they somehow made it work with seemingly no effort. Every night they passed out elated in each others' arms and could find no complaints about what they'd just done.

So caught up in thinking about how much he loved Green, Red let out a shaky, prominent moan that made Gold's eyes go wide in surprise. He was too quiet to ever make a sound that loud. Reaching forward, Red grasped his boyfriend's head and pulled him in, the two of them meeting halfway and sharing a long, heavy kiss over the handcuffed teen they were double penetrating. He may have been between them, but turning him into their shared plaything meant it was still their afternoon.

Gold whimpered, though it did little good with a penis in his mouth to silence him. The added feeling of Red leaning over made tensions build. He was hard again, aching, and never had been so ready to go so soon after the first time. He wanted to cry out and beg someone to touch him, to stroke his needy dick because he was pretty sure he'd finish before either of them anyway. Red wrapped one of the arms around his waist, which seemed a cruel tease and made him groan harder. This was torture.

Green had Red's lower lip hard between his teeth and his free hand in the mess of black hair. It was a subtle show of dominance over Red, and a brief moment of clarity told him that he was in control of both. The temptation to push Red down, to test the feasibility of fucking his boyfriend's mouth while their toy licked his balls crossed his mind. Before he could voice that concern though, the awesomeness of that image made his legs weaken. He cursed as his orgasm came suddenly and far too soon to be happy with himself.

He threw his head back, cursing again as he pulled Gold off most of his cock, leaving his head in his mouth. He pumped Gold's mouth full of cum, breathing heavily and leaning back, still muttering, "Fuck," too many times as his fun came to an abrupt end. Gold whimpered and moaned as a rush of salty cum filled his mouth, but he dutifully swallowed it all, hoping to impress the older boys.

It did. Green pulled Gold up and noted that not a single drop dripped out as he let go of Gold's hair. The Johto boy's head flopped down against his thigh and a string of loud moans ensued. Green enjoyed having his boyfriend fuck someone rested on his thigh, but felt like he could still get some fun out of the situation if he played around a bit more. Motioning to Red that they were changing it up a little, he hooked his arms under Gold and pulled him up. The confused, limp trainer let him, until finally he was standing mostly upright, leaning against Gold for support as Red fucked his stuck-out ass with surprising intensity.

"Please touch me," he whimpered to Green, burying his head in the brunette's shoulder. "I can't take this, it's even better than the vibrator, please!" He'd given up struggling against his handcuffs, resigning himself to it all as Red hammered into his ass, squeezing and grabbing at his hips and cheeks. It was maddening, the heavy aftertaste of semen didn't help matters.

"Sure thing," Green said with the same wicked and playful edge he'd shown before, which made Gold worry. The older boy reached for the vibrator, flicking it up to the maximum setting again and then reaching down between Gold's legs with it in his hand. With surprising deftness, he grabbed Gold's dick in the same hand, pressing the upright toy to it and clutching them both together. He began to stroke rapidly, laughing loudly into Gold's ear.

"F-fuck!" he swore, his sensitive shaft receiving not only a handjob, but one assisted by a powerful, rapidly vibrating toy. It glided up and down a little, just enough with each stroke to make him really feel it, and he ate his words. It felt amazing, especially with Red still going at him from behind, but it was too much for his body to handle at that point.

Just when he thought he was at the peak, under the most they could put him through, Green's lips were at his neck and he knew that it wasn't for a kiss. He hissed as the teeth again sank into his skin, the bizarre mingling of pleasure and slight pain still one he hadn't entirely sorted out yet. What he did sort out was that his hips were rocking now, against Green's hand and against Red's cock, and that he really had no chance at that point. It was all about trying to hold out, not to cum too soon before Red, because he knew that the older trainer would keep fucking him regardless and he didn't know if he could handle that.

He and Silver had tried frotting before, and while it was enjoyable, it had nothing on the feeling of the other dick being a vibrator. It was an idea that never occurred to Gold, and something in the back of his mind asked if he had enough money left over to go buy one for his own use. He knew an ordinary handjob wouldn't be nearly as good anymore.

His train of thought went crashing off the rails as Red's mouth went to the other side of his neck and, completely surprising Gold, he also bit down. He bit down harder than Green, in fact, making Gold shiver and yell out. Red was all the way in his ass, Green's grip was too tight, and their teeth in opposite ends of his neck was the final straw.

Gold came. To his amazement, the second time around was even more intense and drew even more cum from his exhausted body than the first had. Some of it again ended up on Green's dick-and he was really unsure if he would be okay with licking it off again-but most of it ended up on the hand around him and on the floor.

He grew limp against Green, completely exhausted as the boys kept groping and violating him, biting everywhere. Red's thrusts grew even faster, the sound of his thrusts and their bodies slapping together rising over Gold's weak, lust-drunk moans. They built up until, on a dime, they stopped, all of Red buried inside of him. The little bubble at the tip of the condom expanded a little as Red came hard into it. After a moment of remaining in there and holding Gold close to him, he pulled out, breathing heavily.

Green was already over his afterglow, and was the one to reach for the key and undo the handcuffs. Gold remained against the brunette as he rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had left impressions in the skin. He didn't remain there for long, Green pushing him off and pointing him to his clothes. "You want to sleep, go do it on your own bed. People will be home soon, I don't want them coming home to some weird post-fuck cuddle pile with you." He grunted, reaching for the air freshener aerosol can next and giving the room a liberal application of it to cover up the musk of sweat and cum.

Gold got dressed in silence, not sure if he should smile at them and assume he'd done well or keep his eyes to the floor and leave without a sound. "I had fun," he said sheepishly. "Can we maybe do this again some time?"

"Depends," Green said, leading Gold to the door. He opened it, then kicked the new badge case lightly, sending it gliding along the carpet until it hit the opposite wall in the hallway with a thud. "Did you learn your lesson at all?"

Gold thought on it as he walked out of the doorway. Everyone told him bad things would happen, but instead he ended up having one of the most amazing experiences of his life-outside a battle, of course-and there was no warning to walk away with. "No."

"Good." Green slammed the door in his face.


End file.
